Sexual health

Sexual health is crucial for the overall health and well-being of Kent's population. Good sexual health can protect against long-term disease consequences and improve physical and psychological health, education access, economic participation, and social opportunities.

With changing trends in Kent and England, it's vital to protect sexual health. Recent policy changes since the COVID-19 pandemic have made sexual health more pertinent. Key changes include the availability of PrEP in clinics, permanent legislation for at-home early termination of pregnancy, mandatory Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) in schools, the Women's Health Strategy of 2022, and pharmacies prescribing oral contraception. In September 2024, the Local Government Association (LGA) published 'A Blueprint for the Future' to lobby for a 10-year strategy to improve UK sexual health.

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Our resources

Data and reports

The Sexual Health Needs Assessment for Kent was updated in November 2024. Apart from the main report, there is also an executive summary and summary presentation slides.

Since the last assessment in 2018, Kent's sexual health landscape has changed significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to reduced clinic access and a shift to online services. There have been increases in STI rates, reduced hormonal contraception use, late HIV diagnoses, and increased pregnancy terminations. This report identifies at-risk groups and aims to improve outcomes for them.

The report discusses these issues and makes recommendations at the service and population levels, and to wider partners, to improve sexual health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.

Additional information can be found in our Health and Social Care Maps self-serve tool. We are constantly developing this resource in response to your feedback.

We have also produced summaries of HIV prevalence and late diagnosis (PDF, 402.6 KB) and teenage conceptions (PDF, 729.6 KB) in Kent.

External resources

A number of organisations produce statistics relating to sexual health, both at national and local level.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) publish annual data tables on sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
OHID publish Sexual and Reproductive Health Profiles. They have also produced guidance to help health professionals understand the sexual health data available across England and how to access it.
The Public Health England Health Profiles provide snapshot overviews of health for local areas, and include some data on STIs.
The Public Health Outcomes Framework also provides data on chlamydia and HIV.